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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

COACHING U LIVE: THOUGHTS FROM JAY BILAS

One of the speakers at Coaching U Live this year was Jay Bilas. It turns out that Kevin Eastman had spoke to him about speaking some time ago and asked him to keep a journal of things he learned through the course of the season. Besides playing and working for Coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, he gets the opportunity to speak with some of the nation's best coaches while also observing their practice sessions. Here are a few of the notes I took from Bilas who did an incredible job.

One of the things that Bilas looks for as key to successful basketball is what a team does during dead balls:1. Which teams comes together2. Which team talks the most3. During FT, what does the point guard do

Bilas once observed a practice wherePhil Jackson demanded that his players were not allowed to talk it all. He quickly got his point across to his players as they figured out the role of talking and good basketball.

Bilas believes that tension is the enemy of performance. He also spoke of the importance of concentration and that his training as a lawyer had taught him that concentration is a skill and a skill that can be taught.

He also shared a story that he got from his father. “You can’t get to the top of a ladder with only one step but you can get to the bottom with just one.”

One of the most important things that Coach K teaches is “next play.” No matter what happened in the previous possession, the best move mentally, physically and emotionally to the next possession.

When Brad Stevens took his team to Rome, they visited the Roman Coliseum. Both he and his team were impressed that it was “built for eternity.” They used the coliseum as motivation. T-shirt: “Brick by Brick – Everyday”

Bilas said the big key to Butler’s success is they truly believe in a "we first attitude.”

Spoke about Coach K constantly preaching that their next game was the most important one (something that Sue Gunter constantly harped on to her LSU teams). Bilas learned to make what you do at that moment the most important thing.

Coach K on goals: NCAA Tournament, Final Four, Conference Championships aren’t goals – they are destinations. Primary goal for Duke is to get better and closer everyday as a team.